In
1904, Theodore S. Meekins and his wife, Rosa, purchased a lot in Manteo
on Roanoke Island the County Seat for Dare County. The property was
located on County Street, now 319 Sir Walter Raleigh Street. Mr. Meekins
came to Manteo from Rodanthe on Hatteras Island where in 1896 he had
been magistrate of Kinnakeet township.

Mr.
Meekins was a member of one of the Outer Banks’ oldest families
whose ancestors had inhabitated the area since before the American Revolution.
In 1896 he married Rosa P. Midgett and they subsequently had seven children.

After
coming to Manteo, he worked as a contractor and used his experience
in construction to build this beautiful house located on 319 Sir Walter
Raleigh Street formerly known as County Street. At the time the property
was purchased a small structure was standing on the property which he
and Rosa lived in until 1910. At that time, he built the large house
and used the original small dwelling as a kitchen and maid’s room.
When the new house was completed it had seventeen rooms and still remains
the largest house on Roanoke Island. To build the new house Meekins
hired his brother-in-law John Wilson and another local carpenter Joe
Dailey. They had measurable experience in building and had constructed
several lighthouse keeper’s houses and life-saving stations on
the Outer Banks. They built the three-story house in Manteo using as
a model a photograph found by Rosa Meekins. Local tradition claims that
Cramer Brothers Company of Elizabeth City milled the windows for the
house, cut the building materials and sent them to Roanoke Island by
boat.

Throughout
his years in Manteo, Meekins earned a prominent local reputation and
rendered considerable service in local and state government. In addition
to being a Magistrate, he served as Clerk of the Dare County Superior
Court in the early Twentieth Century. He served in the NC State Legislature
during the years 1945 through 1947.

As
a Contractor, Meekins left his imprint upon the maritime history of
the Outer Banks. In 1911 the US Government awarded him a contract to
build a new life saving Station at Chicamacomico, near Rodanthe. Since
its construction, the station has become one of the most famous lifesaving
outposts in the history of the US Coast Guard. During the late nineteenth
and early twentieth century the crews of the station made a number of
daring rescues of shipwreck victims. These heroic feats included the
spectacular rescue of the crew of the torpedoed British tanker Mirlo
during World War I. For their heroism each member of the crew was awarded
the US Gold Life Saving Medal for Valor.

In
addition to being a successful contractor, Meekins was a prosperous
merchant and businessman. He owned significant amounts of real estate
and operated a merchandise store on the waterfront in Manteo. Along
with his partner, Richard C. “Dick” Evans, he ran his store
on the ground floor of the Roanoke Hotel until the structure burned
in the 1920s. He then built and opened another business across the street
from where the first had stood. The new two story frame building was
eventually sold to the Carson Davis family. It was in use as Davis Department
Store until the 1960s when the third major fire in Manteo’s history
destroyed the remaining buildings in the town.

Following
Meekins’ death in 1952 the house on Sir Walter Raleigh passed
to his son Theodore S. Meekins Jr. who died in 1959, leaving the property
to his wife Goldie Harrell Meekins. In 1993, Miss Goldie, as she was
known, was no longer able to manage the large house and property and
so it was sold to Bebe and Bob Woody whose intentions were to preserve
it for the community as well as making it into their home and a bed
and breakfast

Today,
visitors come from near and far to stay at the Inn. It is known as one
of the few places where one can still experience a way of life not easily
found in today’s fast-paced world. The Inn harkens back to a time
when pampering, comraderor, service and comfort of your guests were
the expected norm.

Architectural
Significance

The
Meekins House is a grand three-story with attic late-Queen Anne style
house and is the largest residence on Roanoke Island. It was constructed
in 1910 by local builders John Wilson and Joe Dailey for Theodore S.
Meekins and his family. It was listed on the National Register of Historic
Places in 1984 noted for its architectural and historic significance.

The
house is said to be modeled on a photograph which caught the fancy of
Meekin’s wife, Rosa. The highly picturesque composition is essentially
rectangular in plan and form with a richness achieved by the lavish
combination and composition of its elevations. The rectangularity of
the mass is enlivened by a variety of rooflines, the use of weatherboard
and shingles, and an unusual variety in the placement, grouping, and
size of window openings as well as sash type and stained glass. The
grand three-story tower, two-story bays, and a variety of architectural
moldings and devices plus the encircling one-story porch further enrich
the appearance of the three story house which remains the largest house
in Manteo, the Dare County Seat on Roanoke Island.